Eye of the Tiger
by Arctic Banana
Summary: For the entirety of her life, Ted and Snowflake were inseparable friends. If only the zombies hadn't put a damper on that.


_I was randomly looking through my laptop's folders and found this completed but apparently unpublished fic. The timestamp says it was written in November 2012, but I'm fairly certain that it might have been written earlier than that sometime in early to mid 2011. I think it's kinda meh, but it's finished, so I figured might as well share it.  
_

* * *

When Snowflake first arrived at the Yucatan Casino, she was a scrawny, malnourished runt that had been obtained through shady means. Sickly from having been separated from her mother too soon and half starved to death, she had been the cheapest and easiest tiger for the casino owner to obtain. She was intended as a replacement for Vertigo, the white Siberian tiger that had previously done shows at the Yucatan, who had been unfortunately electrocuted and killed by faulty stage equipment during a show three months prior to Snowflake's sale and arrival. The equipment, as it turned out, was the cheapest that money could buy and that several logged issues by the staff had gone ignored by the owner when it became apparent that they would cost a small fortune to rectify.

It had been automatically assumed that Vertigo's trainer would also be the one training Snowflake, but once he'd learned of the real reason his beloved tiger had been killed and that he was being replaced so soon after his death, he refused to have anything to do with the new tiger out of grief and broke his contract with the casino soon afterwards. Last they'd heard from him, he became a zookeeper for a tiger exhibit in California.

That was when Ted's father, a security officer in the Yucatan, heard that they were looking for a new tiger trainer. His son had always loved animals growing up and despite his low mental capacity, he had a certain way with them that he lacked with other human beings. Ted was fascinated with watching circus animals perform on TV and had attended every one of Vertigo's shows in the four years of the tiger's performing history. He'd wanted nothing more than to train his own animal to do the stunts that he saw on TV or during the tiger shows. When he'd been gifted a dog by his parents, a mutt of indeterminable breed, he spent hours training her, trying to make her reenact the same feats that he'd seen Vertigo and circus lions perform.

With Vertigo's trainer gone, all Ted's father had to do was show a video of Ted and his dog, Shelly, performing tricks in the backyard to the owner. He'd been impressed enough that Ted was hired on the spot, much to the skepticism of all of Ted's coworkers.

"Once that tiger gets big enough, your boy's gonna get eaten," his father had often been told.

The second that Ted met Snowflake, the starving tiger cub waddled over to him and mewled for attention. He managed to get her to take a bottle from him, something the staff had not managed to do. None of them knew how to handle an animal and many of them had been too rough and scary towards her, causing her to flee and hide from them. It was Ted who had named her Snowflake, despite the boss' insistence that 'Snowflake' was a poor name choice compared to 'Vertigo', though more often than not he just called her 'Kitty'.

"Why is her name Snowflake?" his father asked. "She's an orange tiger."

"Because she's pretty, just like a snowflake," Ted explained.

 _Three years later..._

The ailing and malnourished cub recovered well under Ted's care. His employers were amazed at how well trained she was under him. Many of them commented that she might have been better trained than Vertigo, even.

"That boy may be slow, but damn if he doesn't know his way with that tiger," Ted had once overheard one of his supervisors saying to another.

The comment had been intended to be a compliment, but something about it rubbed Ted the wrong way. All he'd heard was the insult. _Ted is slow._ "Ted not slow!" he often told Snowflake. He knew that she agreed with him by the way she licked his hand in response.

Snowflake would listen to him whenever he vented to her about how much he hated people and how they would always call him slow. His coworkers often made fun of him when they thought he couldn't hear, but sure enough he could, and he did. He hated them all and told his father that he wanted to quit, but his father talked him out of it by pointing out that Snowflake was the property of the casino and he would not be permitted to take her with him if he did.

"Someday pretty girl, you and me gonna leave," Ted told her one night while she was lapping up a bowl full of water. "You see. Ted find a way."

* * *

The morning was unusual for Snowflake, who was unable to tell what was going on around her. One minute Ted was tending to her in her pen, preparing her for her first show of the day. The next there was a huge panic outside. They could hear screaming, lots of screaming, and the noise agitated Snowflake to no end. She roared and leapt at the door of her cage while Ted attempted to calm her down. Had anyone else approached her in this moment, she would have torn them limb from bloody limb.

But not Ted. Snowflake would never hurt Ted. She backed away from the cage door, roaring at the sound outside, and allowed Ted to stroke her head. He seemed to be agitated as well. He wanted to see what was going on, but at the same time he didn't want to leave Snowflake's side. She would surely go into another frenzy if he left her now.

The next thing she knew, they were both surrounded by _monsters_. Snowflake did not know what they were or where they came from, but her mind told her one thing: they must have come here to hurt Ted. She refused to allow one of these _monsters_ to come near him. They would lunge for him whenever they got close enough, but Snowflake could lunge faster.

Many of the monsters looked like _strange faces_ , but some of them looked familiar. One of them had an uncanny resemblance to one of the casino workers. Ted had not liked him. She knew by the way he grew tense whenever the employee approached them both. This thought prompted her to be most brutal towards him when she pounced, crushing his head with her jaws and swiftly disemboweling him without a moment's hesitation. The taste was rotten and unbearable and Snowflake learned to never bite one of those monsters again.

While Snowflake's priorities were on protecting Ted from the zombies, Ted was more focused on looking out for Snowflake. He realized with a sense of dread that she had not eaten in two days. She had been ill the previous day due to unknown means (as he was unaware that in the night, some drunken casino workers had snuck in and given her some whiskey) and she had refused to eat a single bite of the food that he gave her.

Now that she was feeling better, she was starving. Ted had intended to feed her before the show like he always did, but the zombies had put a damper on this plan. Most of the meat they had in storage for the purpose of feeding her had already spoiled the previous day. The idiot in charge had procrastinated ordering more meat until the last minute, ensuring that the fresh shipment never arrived in time to beat the outbreak or replace what had gone off due to the broken freezer they kept it in that the owner had long refused to have repaired.

Ted gathered up any meat he could find that was still good and fed it to her, but it wasn't nearly enough to feed a starving tiger. "Don't worry, kitty. Ted find you food," he promised her while she licked the blood from the ground, raw hamburger off the floor.

* * *

Snowflake looked to be asleep when Ted finally found her some "fresh meat". In reality she was just resting, having exhausted most of her strength trying to fend off the zombies that had attempted to hurt Ted. This "meat", a man that appeared to be in his late twenties, said something to Ted, his tone frightened and nervous. Snowflake flinched and raised her head when whatever had been said caused Ted to raise his voice at the man. Ted didn't yell often, and when he did it was because someone had seriously upset him. She didn't like it when Ted was upset and was prepared to spring forward and maul this man for making him so. Ted quickly turned around and his tone softened once more. Snowflake only really calmed down when he began petting her, as if reassuring her that everything was alright now, and rested her head back down on her paws. The strange man seemed relieved that she was once again ignoring him.

"People not been very good to me. Not like Snowflake. Snowflake my friend," Ted said in a fond manner while he stroked Snowflake's head. She made a contented sound, akin to a sigh, and barely understood the rest of the conversation. She was startled once more when Ted once again started shouting. "NO! Ted not slow!" Ted screamed angrily.

Snowflake's head shot back up off the concrete when she heard Ted say the word "slow". She did not know what this word meant, only that something about it angered Ted like nothing other. Something about it rang as a negative in her mind, and she didn't like it.

Snowflake roared in anger at this man that had dared to call Ted _slow_ and jumped off the stoop, prepared to make him regret doing so.

* * *

Chuck had screwed up. He knew that the instant the tiger looked straight at him after Ted started shouting and instructed her to eat him. If he wasn't mistaken, Snowflake looked downright pissed. The last time he'd seen such an angry look was on his late wife the year he pretended to have forgotten her birthday, just to see how she'd react. Her reaction had not been pretty and neither was Snowflake's, only this time he was certain that gifts of expensive jewelry would not save his ass this time. Well, maybe it would have if he hadn't dropped that laser sword he'd made from a flashlight and some jewelry when Ted had knocked him out earlier.

No, Chuck would have to find a way to kill Ted and then he'd have to deal with the tiger. He really didn't want to have to kill either of them. Ted seemed like a nice guy underneath it all and Chuck really liked tigers, but unfortunately it seemed like Ted was beyond reasoning now.

He scrambled to his feet and just barely made it out of the way before Snowflake landed on the floor, claws out and snarling like a demon out of Hell.

* * *

Snowflake spun around and was about to pounce on the man again when something other than Chuck caught her attention. Ted, in his blind rage and desire to kill this man who had called him _slow_ failed to see the monsters that were approaching him from behind, after the sudden commotion attracted them. She leapt forward, nearly knocking the man back off his feet, and shoved one of the _monsters_ against the floor, its skull smashing open on impact and spraying the floor with brains that had turned a sickly shade of gray from decomposition. She roared at another one nearby and reared up on her hind legs, knocking its head clean off with a swipe of her muscular paw.

Snowflake looked back at Ted, who barely seemed to notice what she had done, as he was still preoccupied with the stranger. She looked around and saw that all the _monsters_ in the immediate area were heading in their direction. They were coming to hurt Ted. She could not allow that.

Snowflake bolted off into the crowd, eviscerating a nearby zombie and decapitating its companion before turning on yet another. She didn't slow down until she was standing on a pile of zombies, drenched in foul-smelling fluids and coagulating blood. She hadn't stopped because she was tired. She hadn't even stopped because she had determined the threat to be over. She hesitated because she heard Ted calling for her. Even through all the noise and commotion, she could hear his voice calling to her. She looked around for him in the thick crowd of zombies and mowed several of them down in her attempt to get to him.

Ted was no longer moving once Snowflake finally broke from the crowd of undead to reach him. He had several bullet wounds in his gut and was bleeding out onto the floor. Snowflake nudged him with her nose, trying to make him get up, but he just wouldn't move. She started mewling, desperate to get a reaction from him, and pushed on his arm with her paw.

Snowflake heard a clicking sound and looked up towards the stranger. She suddenly realized what must have happened when she saw the man standing there, gun in hand, her animal brain trying to make sense of it all. She didn't know what the gun did, but she knew that Ted had used one to kill _monsters_ before, so she knew it had some kind of potential to hurt.

This stranger had killed Ted. This stranger must not have been human at all. He must have been one of those _monsters_ that were trying to hurt Ted! She should have never have left him to fight the stranger alone!

"Oh shit!" was the only thing the stranger had to say when Snowflake roared at him and leapt off the step.

* * *

Chuck stood stunned over Ted with the handgun he'd stolen off an undead security guard clutched tightly in his hands. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a gut-wrenching sense of guilt as he watched Ted fall to the ground, calling for his tiger and offering her himself as food.

What had he done? He'd just killed an innocent survivor...why hadn't he done more to try and help Ted? He debated going over to check on Ted in the vain hope that maybe, just maybe, he might still be alive, when he heard the sounds of an angry tiger mauling her way through the crowd of undead.

Chuck had almost forgotten about Snowflake in his struggle with Ted. She no longer looked like the "pretty girl" that she had been when Ted first dragged him there. She was drenched in the remains of the undead and almost looked undead herself with the feral look in her eyes. He watched Snowflake stop at Ted's side and try to wake her and felt even more guilty than he did before. It didn't take him long to remember that this was still a hungry tiger however, one that would probably be angry and vengeful when she realized that he had just killed her master, and he lined his gun up for a headshot, wondering if the handgun would be able to penetrate the skull of the tiger and hoping it could, if only to give her an instant and painless death.

His blood ran cold when he heard the click of an empty barrel. He hadn't realized that the clip wasn't full when he grabbed the gun from the zombie's holster. _Oh shit,_ he thought to himself when the sound of the empty gun clicking alerted Snowflake to his presence.

"Oh shit!" he said aloud when she charged after him.

* * *

Snowflake was about to make chase when she stopped and noticed that the _monsters_ were leaning over Ted, preparing to eat him. She leapt at them and tossed them away, giving the stranger a chance to escape into a nearby restaurant. Only when they were dead did she once again spin around and follow after the man.

* * *

Chuck scrambled to find something he could throw at the advancing tiger. He hurled a serving tray in her direction but his aim was way off and he ended up cracking a zombie in the face and knocking it to the ground instead. He grabbed a plate, barely noticing that there was a steak on it, and hurled that at the tiger next.

* * *

The plate missed Snowflake by a mile and shattered on the wall, but the contents spilled everywhere. Snowflake paused to examine the pleasant smell beneath her and found it to be a hunk of meat. Her hunger got the better of her and she snatched the steak up in her jaws, devouring it in seconds, before returning to her previous goal of killing the _monster_ who hurt Ted.

* * *

The fact that Snowflake had stopped to eat the steak had not gone unnoticed by Chuck. This gave him an idea. While she was distracted, he looked around for some more steak and found some on another table. Grabbing it, he threw it in her direction before diving behind the counter for cover. He peeked over the edge just long enough to see her hesitate before stopping to eat the second steak as well. Perfect! He just needed to find enough meat to distract her while he made his escape!

Chuck jumped when he heard a loud crash and flailed as plates and serving trays rained down from the counter above him. He looked up to see the tiger laying on the counter like a house cat and peering down at him, though she looked slightly less aggressive than she did before. Glancing to his left, he noticed another steak lying on the floor.

* * *

Snowflake was confused. She had thought for sure this man was one of those _monsters_ and that he had been the one who killed Ted, but he couldn't be. He was giving her food, just like Ted had once done for her. Perhaps he hadn't been the one who killed Ted after all. It must have been one of the other monsters.

She padded her way at a brisk pace towards where she could smell the man's fear and jumped up onto the counter that he had taken refuge behind, knocking down everything atop it onto his head. The man looked up at her before scrambling and retrieving a steak that he found laying amidst a broken plate on the floor and slowly held it out in his hand, offering it to her, looking nervous that she might bite his fingers off. Surprisingly enough to him, she took the proffered food from him gently, as she had done so many times when Ted had rewarded her with treats after shows. She quickly gulped it down and turned back to the man hiding behind the counter.

The man reached towards her and pet her gently. "Nice kitty," he said to her.

* * *

Chuck stroked the large jungle cat slowly, thinking, _okay, now what?_ What was he supposed to do with a zombie stained tiger? He couldn't just leave her here to starve to death or get eaten by zombies.

Chuck stood up slowly and carefully, monitoring the tiger for any sign that she would anger and turn on him. "You're a good tiger, aren't you Snowflake?" he said when she reached out and playfully batted at his shoulder. "And I guess you really don't like zombies, either?"

It was then that an idea hit him. He knew exactly what he was going to do with this tiger!

* * *

A utility sink, several rolls of public bathroom-grade paper towels and gallons of dish soap later and Snowflake was...well at least she was a bit closer to presentable, and at least she didn't smell like zombie death anymore either. Chuck briefly toyed with the idea of tying a bow around her neck but decided against it when he couldn't think of anyplace where he could get one big enough.

The hard part was coaxing Snowflake into the vent to the saferoom. Chuck patted the edge of the opening and called her name, but Snowflake didn't budge, not wanting to enter such a tiny, scary place. She mewled and paced back and forth as she looked at the entrance with uncertainty.

"Come on, Snowflake! I'll give you another steak!" Chuck said enticingly, holding a steak out in front of him. Snowflake turned her head to the side, not wanting to eat anymore right now. She had already gorged herself on steak while he was giving her a bath. "Pretty please, Snowflake? Please, please, please?" he said, using his daughter's tactics for begging for permission to stay up a half hour later than her usual bedtime. Snowflake yawned and laid down on the ground with the intent to stay there.

Chuck wasn't ready to give up just yet and had one more idea. Perhaps she liked to play with toys? He didn't doubt that Ted kept something around to stimulate her attention when she wasn't performing, least she grow bored and miserable.

He held out a stuffed animal that he'd taken from the nearby toy store. He had intended to give it to Katey, but this seemed like an emergency. Snowflake's head shot up when she saw the toy and watched Chuck toss it into the vent. She jumped forward and climbed inside after the toy while Chuck quickly got in behind her to try to keep her from backing out.

"Okay, so now's the fun part," Chuck sighed when he realized his entire trip to the safe house would be made with a tiger's butt in his face.

* * *

"Chuck, are you insane?!" Stacey screamed when she saw Chuck's latest gift to Katey. She turned around and fell silent when she realized that he was wearing a bright pink tube top and a raccoon skin hat. Was...was that a lightsaber? Did he seriously make a lightsaber out of a flashlight?

"What?" Chuck asked when he realized she'd been staring at him for an awfully long time.

"Nothing...I think you just answered my question without even realizing it."

"Wow, Daddy! Thank you!" Katey said excitedly when she saw the tiger. Snowflake licked her face and rolled over onto her back like a Persian cat so Katey could scratch at her belly.

"Can I please speak to you outside?" Stacey whispered before ushering Chuck out into the hall and away from Katey. Once they were in the hall, she exploded on him. "Chuck, the annoying talking robot bear was bad enough, now you brought her a present that could eat her?!"

"Snowflake isn't going to eat her," Chuck replied in a dismissive tone. "That's what this backpack full of raw hamburger is going to prevent." Stacey looked grossed out when he handed her the squishy backpack that had blood pooling at the bottom.

"And what do you plan on doing with this tiger when we get out of here?" she continued.

"Well, I figured we'd just keep her," Chuck shrugged.

"Keep her? Chuck, I know this probably isn't any of my business, but how the hell do you think you're going to afford to keep a tiger on top of Katey's Zombrex?"

Chuck had no answer. He really hadn't thought of that part at all. "Look, I'll figure this all out later, but please, can you look after Snowflake for me while I'm gone? I'm worried that someone in here might panic and shoot her."

"You ever wonder why someone might try to panic and shoot her? Is it maybe because, oh, I don't know...YOU BROUGHT A FREAKING TIGER IN HERE?" Stacey demanded.

Heads turned in their direction at the sound of Stacey's raised voice level. "See, I told you that was a real tiger he had with him," Kris whispered to Anim.

Chuck quickly tried to calm her down. "I know bringing a tiger in here was probably not a good idea, but it was the only choice I had. I couldn't leave her out there alone with the zombies!" Especially after what he'd done to Ted. He thought that maybe if he kept Snowflake alive it would make up for what he'd done to Ted. "I'll keep bringing her food, that way she doesn't run down your supplies or eat anyone. How's that?"

Stacey considered his offer for a moment. "Okay. But if she tries to eat Katey, I'll kill her and then you, got that?"

Chuck laughed at her response. He was glad to hear that she cared so much about his daughter's safety that she was willing to kill him to ensure it. Moments like this actually reassured him that Katey was safe in her care while he was out. "Okay. Deal," he nodded.


End file.
